NASA’s Artemis II Moon rocket is taking shape following the successful integration of the launch vehicle stage adapter onto the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage on April 12 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program used a 325-ton crane to hoist...
Another element of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis II is poised for flight. Technicians joined the core stage March 23 with the stacked solid rocket boosters for the mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program and primary contractor Amentum used one of the five...
Following a successful landing on March 2, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 has been operating on the lunar surface for nearly two weeks. As part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander delivered 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Mare Crisium basin on the near...
Technicians used massive cranes inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to lift the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage out of High Bay 2 and into a horizontal position in the facility’s transfer aisle. The move, completed on March 14, prepares the stage for integration with other...
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 lunar lander touched down at approximately 12:30 p.m. EST on March 6, 2025. Watch the IM-2 post-landing news conference for more information. Participants included Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; Steve Altemus, CEO, Intuitive Machines, and Tim Crain, chief...
Intuitive Machines’ confirmed its lunar lander, Athena, touched down on the Moon at approximately 11:30 a.m. CST on Thursday. The company’s IM-2 mission is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. A post-landing news conference will take place at 4 p.m. EST from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Watch live on NASA+.
The IM-2 lander is beginning its vertical descent where the lander’s Guidance and Navigation Control system flies the lander to a point approximately 98 feet (30 meters) above the designated landing site. Then the lander goes into a vertical descent at about 10 feet-per-second (3-meters-per-second). After that, the lander brakes to a 3-feet-per-second (1-meter-per-second) descent rate...
The final burn of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 lunar lander has begun. Powered descent initiation is a main engine firing that will take about 12 minutes. It’s designed to slow the lander’s speed in preparation for final descent moments before touchdown. During this phase, the lander must slow down by about 4,000 miles per hour...
After launching Feb. 26 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Intuitive Machines’ lander is preparing to land on the Moon at 11:30 a.m. CST at Mons Mouton near the Moon’s South Pole. Watch now on NASA+ or the agency’s website. Aboard the mission are a suite of NASA technology and science payloads on their way...
After successfully completing descent orbit insertion at 4:33 a.m. CST Thursday, Intuitive Machines flight controllers are gathering data and checking the lander’s landing systems for accuracy ahead of landing on the lunar surface for its IM-2 mission. The updated landing time is 11:30 a.m. CST. As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative...
